My Father's Child Series
by Vashti
Summary: Buffy's (and Dawn's) real family has a green streak.
1. Daddy's Girl(s)

**Title** : Daddy's Girl(s)  
 **Series** : My Father's Child  
 **Author** : Vashti  
 **Fandom** : The Avengers (MCU), BtVS  
 **Character(s)** : Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Dawn  
 **Rating** : PG/K+  
 **Summary** : Buffy's bio-dad has a special place in her heart, so when he's in danger she wants to be where he is.  
 **Length** : ~700 words  
 **Disclaimer** : Only the words are mine, and that's probably up for philosophical debate.  
 **Notes** : Uh...post BTVS 5.16 "The Body" and pre-Season 7, but it's not really set anymore specifically than that.  
 **Notes2** : Written for the 2016 August Fic-a-day ficathon. I thought it would be a oneshot. Ha.

"I need to find Bruce."

When she glanced at the book covered sofa to see if anyone had heard, or even been paying attention, Buffy found that her friends were looking at her like she'd grown a second head. Which she hadn't! And never had, thank you very much! Scowling at Willow and Xander, she snapped a very snippy "What!?" before turning back to the television.

Luckily for them both, Giles appeared. "I couldn't help but overhear...You need to find Bruce? Who is Bruce, pray tell?"

"Why thank you for asking Giles. I'll be happy to tell you." She shot her friends a dirty look.

"Bruce is-"

Dawn shot into the room, ponytail swinging around her shoulders. "Buffy, have you seen the news? We have to find Bruce."

Willow and Xander both groaned. "Not you, too," Willow said for them both.

Looking from person to person with wide eyes, she went from concerned to annoyed in a minute flat. "What!?"

Xander leaned into Willow. "The resemblance is uncanny," he muttered.

Eyes narrowed, Buffy choose to ignore the aside. "Giles, Bruce is our bio-dad."

"Technically your bio-dad," Dawn interjected.

"Technically," Buffy agreed, "but since Dawnie's made from me and Hank is the Jerk King of Jerklandia, we decided Bruce is really both our dad."

Eyebrows making a real attempt to climb into his hairline, Giles asked them if this mysterious "Bruce" knew about Dawn's true identity.

The sisters shook their heads. Looking at Buffy, Dawn said, "I didn't know he was back in the country."

"He didn't tell me either, this time," Buffy said. Directing her attention to Giles, she said, "Anything Bruce knows about Dawnie comes from the monks. We've kept in touch, but I'm not even sure I was in double digits the last time I saw him."

She smiled fondly. "I still can't believe he came looking for me after finding out Bio-Mom hadn't told him she was knocked up."

Three sharp What!'s rang out across the room.

Speaking for the group, Xander said, "Uh, Buff, that's not a very nice way to talk about Joyce."

Eyes narrowed she said, "Uh, you guys, I'm adopted, remember? Mom isn't my bio-mom, either."

"What!?"

Dawn slapped Buffy's arm.

"Ow!" Buffy rubbed her arm. "What was that for?"

"Oh, please. Like that hurt. And I thought you told them!"

"I meant to. I mean I thought I did! I guess something more important always came up."

"Buffy!" came from four different corners (okay, three since Willow and Xander were researching together on the sofa) of the room.

"Look if it wasn't midterms it was Snyder. And if it wasn't Snyder it was evil dates from hell—"

Xander shuddered. "Literally."

"And if it wasn't evil dates it was this year's Apocalypse. I'm sorry me being adopted kinda slipped my mind. Besides," Buffy said, shrugging, "Mom and the-person-formally-known-as-Dad have been my parents since, like, forever. Bruce is almost like that really awesome Uncle you keep up with through AIM."

Willow perked up. "He chats? Or chatted? Chatting not being the medium by which modern teens communicate today."

Buffy and Dawn nodded slowly. "Oh yeah. He's super nerdy. We used to AIM all the times," Dawn said. "I'm still not sure how Buffy is his spawn."

"Hey!"

Dawn threw her hands up. "I'm just saying."

"I'll—"

"So!" Giles interjected before the sisters could really get going. "Your biological father. Why do you think he is in trouble, and how do you know that he's back in the states if you've been out of contact?"

Lower lip firmly in her teeth, Buffy turned to the television and brought up the volume. Sounds of fighting and destruction filled what had been the quiet research space. "Where is that?" Giles asked.

Dawn answered. "New York City."

"And how do you know your father is…is there if you haven't spoken?"

A roar poured out of the television set, almost too loud for its speakers.

Dawn and Buffy shared a look. "Um, because my bio-dad's Bruce Banner."

Xander shot up. "Your biological father is the Hulk?"

"Only if you make him angry."

"Only if you…" Xander sank back into his seat.

Ignoring him, Buffy turned to Giles. "So. How quickly can we get to New York?"

Fin[ite]


	2. Daddy Dearest

**Title** : Daddy Dearest  
 **Series** : My Father's Child  
 **Author** : Vashti  
 **Fandom** : The Avengers (MCU), BtVS  
 **Character(s)** : Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanova  
 **Rating** : PG  
 **Summary** : Buffy and Dawn make it to New York.  
 **Length** : ~2,445 words  
 **Disclaimer** : See part 1  
 **Notes** : Post BTVS 5.16 "The Body" and pre-Season 7, post "The Avengers" and pre-everything-else.

§§§

Crossing the lobby of Stark Towers, one of the several receptionists had already made eye-contact with Buffy and Dawn by the time they were halfway to the truly massive helpdesk. "Good morning!" the perky brunette said with a smile. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for our father."

The receptionist, 'Becky' according to her nametag, immediately turned her eyes to the computer in front of her. "I can definitely help you with that. Do you know what department he works for?"

"Uh..." Buffy glanced at Dawn who shrugged. "Is there a department for semi-regularly turning parts of New York City into rubble?"

Becky frowned at her computer screen. Then, as her brain actually caught up with Buffy's words, she looked up and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Are you saying that your father is a scientist?"

"He is," Dawn said over Buffy's shoulder. "He is definitely a scientist."

"As much as I hate to agree with my sister, our dad? Walking science."

Brightening, Becky said, "Okay! What's his name?"

"Um..." Buffy glanced back at Dawn again. Who shrugged again. "What've we got to lose," she told Buffy, sotto voce.

Squaring her shoulders, Buffy looked Becky in the eye and said, "Our dad is Dr. Bruce Banner. Please tell him Buffy and Dawn are here to see him."

"Oh good, Bruce! You're here!" Tony said with the kind of light in his eye usually reserved for the birth of a new mechanical toy.

Bruce looked up and over the back of the sofa he was on, caught a glimpse of Tony's unholy glee and tried to sink into the furniture. "Whatever it is, Tony, I don't want to know."

"But you're gonna love this!"

"Tony..."

"Bru-uce..."

"Tony," Natasha said as she made her way down the ramp that led to the upper level of the great room, "are you whining?"

Pressing a hand to his arc reactor, Tony affected outrage. "I would never."

Bruce and Natasha snorted. She went into the kitchen and he returned to the article he'd been reading on his borrowed tablet.

Tony stuck his tongue out at Natasha. Who unerringly made an even ruder gesture from around the fridge, even though there was no way she should have been able to see him through the stainless steel monstrosity.

"JARVIS, are you siding with the spysassin again?"

"I would never, sir," was the AI's exceedingly dry response.

"Do I detect a note of sarcasm?" Tony asked as he continued his journey to Bruce's not-so-hiding place.

"I am a creature of Sir's making."

Smirking, Bruce looked up from his article. "That doesn't scare you?"

"Me? Scared of a product of my own rather impressive intellect?" Tony scoffed.

"Yeeeah. I don't see that coming back to haunt us anytime soon," Bruce muttered as he, once again, sank into his seat. "No offense, JARVIS."

"None taken, sir."

Tony snatched the tablet from Bruce's hand. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Tony said. "I came here with choice news to share. And I refuse to be distracted." At the snort from the kitchen, he added, "This time."

He shoved a different tablet in Bruce's hands. "Take a look at this."

Bruce sighed heavily, but watched the screen. "Are you really watching guests get snippy with the poor people at the Information Desk, now?" He half turned in his seat to look Tony in the eye. "You need to get some sleep."

"You may be right about the sleep. Maybe. BUT! This is more than just annoying guests at InfoHelp.

"JARVIS, project the image and turn up the volume"

"Yes, sir."

Soon the space in front of the entertainment area was full of a larger-than-life version of what was going on in the downstairs lobby. Bruce's sucked in breath was almost drowned out by three women arguing.

"Okay, you're right," Tony said conversationally near Bruce's ear, "the short one is pretty hot but-" Tony cut himself off. Bruce's cheek had flushed red then a mottled green.

"Uh...what'd I say?"

Bruce shot up from his seat. "That's my daughter you're ogling."

"You mean she's not making up the world's worst lie?

"Ow!" Tony turned to see who, or what, had hit him in the back of the head, only to catch a glimpse of Natasha's short red hair pass behind him.

"Thank you, Nat," Bruce said.

"Any time, Doc. So you gonna go see about your kid and her friend-"

"Little sister, not mine."

"-now or after Becky with the good hair puts your blood pressure in the green?"

Bruce nodded. "Good point." He climbed over the back of the sofa sending Tony's eyebrows to his hairline. "JARVIS, make sure no one kicks them out or anything," he said as he sprinted from the room.

"Of course, sir."

Tony shook his head. "I don't think I've ever seen him so...like that..."

The hummus covered pretzel in Natasha's hand paused on the way to her mouth as she smirked at the wonder on Tony's face. "What would you do if someone was keeping your kid from seeing you?"

He turned to look at her. "Do you mean before or after I shot myself?"

She snorted. "Sometimes you don't know what you want until you have it and can't keep it." The pretzel went into her mouth and she left the room.

Steve caught her before she could pass out of the great room. "I just saw Bruce run out of here like a lab was on fire. Any idea what's going on?"

Gesturing over her shoulder to Tony, frowning at the lobby still on display, she told him to ask the "genius billionaire fraidy pants."

"I heard that!"

Buffy and Dawn watched the numbers on the elevator display climb ever higher. "Would you relax," Dawn said.

"I'll relax when I see him," was Buffy's terse reply.

"Hey...he's nearly indestructible when he's big and green and angry."

"Only on the outside."

"Yeah, it's not as if we don't know where you get it from," Dawn said. She scooted close enough to rest her chin on Buffy's shoulder for a moment, but only a moment, lest they appear to have too much sisterly affection. They had a reputation to maintain, after all.

Buffy had been ready to blow a major gasket, worthy of a Slayer who had grown up a privileged Valley Girl princess, down there with Becky the receptionist. She hadn't taken no for an answer since she was in diapers. Becky was not going to be the first. She'd faced down hell-gods and won. That she had died in the process was so not the point.

The point? No way Becky was keeping her and Dawn from Bruce, even if they'd had to take the long way around.

Then, like magic (which she'd have to check on with Wills), Becks had gotten a call at her station right before Buffy had to decide if putting her fist through the reception desk was worth the hassle of dealing with human security forces if it also got her bio-dad on the scene.

Stiff as the sharp creases in her dress-shirt, Becky had hung up the phone and looked up at the bristling sisters. "At the second bank of elevators, take the one that lights up when you approach."

"Why?" Dawn asked, only a hair less peeved than Buffy. "Will security be waiting to escort us to sub-basement 3 for interrogation?"

"It will take you directly to the penthouse."

"Oh," Buffy and Dawn said together. No less stiff than the receptionist, Buffy tacked on a barely polite "Thank you" before leading her sister away.

"And your hair sucks!" Dawn had called over her shoulder. Which had prompted Buffy to push her sister toward the elevators.

Now they were watching fancy elevator numbers together.

"Y'know," Dawn said thoughtfully, "I'm surprised she didn't try to accuse you of being Stark's kid. Dude gets around."

Buffy shrugged. "Maybe they don't get as much baby daddy drama now that he's a one-woman man. Have you seen that woman walk in a pair of stilettos?"

"I'd be too scared to cheat on a woman wielding those things."

"Penthouse," the cultured British elevator voice said, breaking into their conversation. It had greeted them when they stepped onto the elevator, prompting Dawn to pet the wood-paneled interior and declare that she could get used to this.

"Thanks, Elevator Voice Guy," Buffy said as they slowed.

"My pleasure, Miss. My name, however, is Jarvis."

Buffy and Dawn shared a look. Dawn leaned in close. "I think the elevator guy is hitting on you," she said as the doors slid open.

"Who's hitting on my kid?" Bruce said from the other side.

"Bruce!" Buffy launched herself at her bio-dad. Who caught her easily.

"Or should I call you 'Big Daddy'," Buffy said, affecting her worst Southern accent.

Bruce grimaced. "Please don't."

"I'd love it if you call him Big Poppa," a male voice said, followed promptly by "Ow! Where did you even come from?"

"Thanks, Natasha," Bruce called over his shoulder.

"Anytime, Doc," a woman answered.

Dawn, who had come bouncing out behind Buffy, raised her eyebrows. "Lady friend, Bruce? And you didn't tell us? Tsk, tsk. This goes against the Sixth Grade Accords."

Bruce smiled and reached for her. "Hey Dawnie. Are you girls alright?" he asked once he'd gotten both of them in his arms.

"Us?" Buffy said. "It's you we're worried about."

"Is that why you're here?"

Dawn nodded. "That and to spill the beans that you're my dad, too."

Sadness clouded Bruce's face. "Dawnie, I know your father hasn't been...ideal, but he is your father. And Buffy's. I'm more like...like..."

"A genetic material providing favorite uncle?" The male voice revealed itself to be the very famous face of Tony Stark. "Which, wow, that sounds really wrong. Didn't know you had it in you, Bruce."

"I do not..." breaking off with a strangled sound (or an I-want-to-strangle-you sound), Bruce turned back to Buffy and Dawn. "Just...just ignore him. For the sake of our sanity and the market value of this building."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Not a problem. But seriously, about Dawn, she really is your daughter. Technically speaking."

"Buffy, I remember when your mom was pregnant with Dawn." He hesitated a moment, then said, "Joyce would call me, every now and then, to...reassure me. And I think to reassure herself."

"About what?" Buffy asked, frowning.

Dawn slapped her arm. "Duh! That you weren't going to be replaced by the bio-baby just because you were adopted and I wasn't. Sort of."

"Oh. You know, that never even occurred to me at the time. I think that's why the whole thing with Dad hurt so much. I'd never had to worry that my parents loved me before. I mean…Bruce…you know we're super-cool and all, but-"

"He was your father. Is your father," Bruce said. "I know. I regretted not being there for you, but mostly I was grateful to Hank and Joyce that they were."

"Enough with this Lifetime movie of the week moment!" Tony snapped from just over Bruce's shoulder. "Explain how Legs, here, is Brucie's spawn."

Buffy growled.

"Well that one is definitely yours."

Dawn reached over Bruce to slap Tony upside the head.

"Ow! And that one is related to Natasha."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Tony."

"What?! Your kids are really violent, you know that?" Frowning and rubbing his head, he looked from Buffy to Dawn. "You ladies get that from your old man?"

Turning puppy eyes on Bruce, Buffy pouted and said, "Can't I break him just a little? Or sic Andrew on him?"

"Not until you explain Dawn. I mean..." Bruce extracted himself from the two young women (forcing Tony to step back in the process) so he could look at them both. "If you're claiming me because Hank is-"

"In Barcelona with his secretary?" Dawn said, eyebrows arched.

"I was going to say 'an idiot', but you are much more-"

"Blunt?" Buffy muttered.

"-accurate," Bruce said, as if Buffy hadn't spoken. "I understand that. And...and I'm really touched." He studied them for a moment when neither Buffy nor Dawn answered. His eyes narrowed. "But that's not it, is it?"

"Um..." Buffy looked at Dawn.

"Uh..." Dawn looked at Buffy.

"Girls..."

"It's magic?" Buffy and Dawn said together.

Bruce blinked at them. "Magic."

"Yeah," Buffy said, drawing the word out. "I know that's a four-letter word for you, Dr. Science, even though it's really five letters, but, yeah. Magic. See, Dawn isn't really...real. She's kinda a green ball of mystical energy?"

One of Bruce's eyebrows went up and his hands were crossed over his chest. "Go on."

"And as a ball of mystical energy she's able to do really impressive mystical stuff like open portals to hell dimensions, and to keep her - well 'it' before she had a body - safe from the assorted demons, hell-gods and nasty magic workers, a bunch of mystical energy monks kinda used me as a template for her human body, and by template I mean, like, my body?"

"Does she breathe?" Tony muttered. Everyone ignored him.

"Buffy, I know I haven't been exactly consistent with my presence in your life but-"

"I'm telling you the truth."

"She is!" Dawn threw in, less than helpfully.

"Which I realize is really hard to believe because...because..." Buffy gnawed on her lower lip for a moment. Then she sighed, resigned with herself. "Because I've kinda been lying to you since I was fifteen. I mean, not, like, active lying or anything, but, like, not-telling-you-everything lying."

Bruce's face crumpled. "I know about the psych ward," he said softly. "Hank didn't want me to know but Joyce told me."

"I always wondered if you knew," she said almost to herself. "But, no!" Buffy shook herself. "Not that. See, I'm..." Her eyes tracked on Tony for a minute, studying him until he began to squirm. She came to a decision. Resolution written on her face, she said, "I'm the Vampire Slayer."

"You're what?" Bruce and Tony said simultaneously.

Buffy gently uncrossed Bruce's arms. "C'mon. I'll explain," she said as she steered him towards the living room she'd briefly spied as the elevator doors had opened.

"What do we do about Talking Tony, here?" Dawn asked as she hung back with the (surely only temporarily) gobsmacked billionaire.

"Bring him with," Buffy said, half turning around. "I mean he already knows about Bio-Dad's little green problem, right? And I did kinda spill the beans about you being, y'know, a ball of light and junk."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Fine! But I am not cleaning him up if his big sciency brain comes leaking out of his ears."

Fin[ite]

* * *

 **Notes2** : Poor Becky. I happened to be going through names at work and came across a Becky _, which stuck with me as I was writing this. And then, y'know, Bey writes a mighty fine earworm, though I'm not a fan one way or the other. Sorry Receptionist Becks!


	3. Sweet Child(ren) of Mine

**Title:** Sweet Child(ren) of Mine  
 **Series:** My Father's Child  
 **Author:** Vashti  
 **Fandom:** The Avengers (MCU), BtVS  
 **Character(s):** Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers  
 **Rating:** PG/K+  
 **Summary:** They all suffer from a complete lack of focus.  
 **Length:** ~1050 words  
 **Disclaimer:** See part 1.  
 **Notes:** See part 2

§§§

"So you're a technicolor light show," Tony said with only slightly less sarcasm than either Buffy or Dawn might have expected considering his mechanical/sciency/engineering brain. Then again he and a bunch of superheroes (which included an alien-god/god-alien, and a man that was maybe two hundred pounds who turned into a green rage monster who maybe weighed a ton) had recently fought insecty-ish aliens. It was possible his weird-but-true meter had added a few colors.

"Try again, ladies."

Or not.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Of all the things I've told you, Dawn being the Key is what you fixate on?"

"Supers we've got, Shortcake-"

Bruce covered his face and groaned. "Oh, Tony, of all the random nicknames..."

Before Buffy could whip out an appropriate snappy response, Dawn held up her hands. "Look-"

"But-!" Buffy protested.

"There will be plenty of time for verbal evisceration. Obviously some of us are easily distracted by shiny things..." Dawn looked pointedly at Tony, but included Bruce in her glare. Who held up his hands as if to proclaim his innocence.

"If not Stark then it would have been you," Dawn said. "Admit it."

Bruce lowered his hands. "...maybe. But you have to admit that what you and Buffy are claiming isn't humanly possible."

Giving him a less than happy smile, Buffy said, "Guess that's why humans didn't do it." She turned to Dawn. "So what's the what? And don't pretend you don't have something up your sleeve."

"Who me?" Dawn said. "Of course I have something up my sleeve. They're just lucky it's nothing small and shiny."

"Uh, JARVIS," Tony said, "make sure to scan the tall one before she leaves the building."

"Very good, sir."

"Hey! I've given up my life of petty crime."

"Dawn. Focus!"

It took a moment of grumbling (and a promise to Bruce that they would fill him in on that particular chapter of their lives) before Dawn got herself on track again. Grouchy now, she said, "Look, all we have to do is a simple blood test on all three of us. Mom and Dad insisted when Bruce came calling that first time, right?"

Buffy and Bruce nodded.

"And it said that Buff's your bio-kid, not Hank and Joyce Summers', right?"

Bruce nodded.

"And you also remember when I was born, right?"

"And you're sure you're not the daddy," Tony threw in.

Bruce narrowed his eyes, but nodded again.

"Then if you're right there should be a close parental link between you and Buffy, but virtually no link between me and Buffy."

"But if we're right," Buffy said, "there will be a close genetic link between the three of us, with me and Dawn being nearly identical."

"So now you're saying she's a clone."

Buffy might have reached for Tony except Bruce caught her around the waist.

His hand still flew to the back of his head when someone hit him there. "Ow! What the- Spysassin!"

Bruce sighed. "Thank you, Natasha."

Eyes bright with amusement, she said, "My pleasure, Doc."

"I thought you were gone?" Tony groused.

"It's never a good idea to go far when there's a Slayer in the room. Unless you're the one she's after. Then I suggest running far and running fast, and hoping something bigger than you distracts her."

Buffy, who had stopped struggling once Tony had been hit, looked up at Bruce. "I agree with Dawn. I thoroughly approve despite this clear violation of the SGA."

Turning bright red, Bruce released his daughter. "It's not...it's not like that."

"Uh huh," said Buffy. "Sure," came from Dawn.

Natasha approached the Slayer. She gave her a short, sharp nod. "Natasha Romanova. I've never met one of you in person."

"Uh, I've never met a spysassin before? But, hey, any lady friends of Bio-Dad's that can get this one to shut up for more than five minutes at a time is cool with me." She extended a hand. "Buffy Summers. Pleasure to meet you."

"She's not my lady friend," Bruce said, voice raised as Dawn practically vibrated around her sister and Natasha. "I mean, yes friend and yes a lady but not...not like that."

"Isn't he adorable when he gets all Giles like?" Dawn cooed.

Buffy and Natasha shared a pleased smile. "Not that I know who this Giles person is," Natasha said, "but it is adorable. Your...bio-dad..." her eyebrows went up in Bruce's direction, "is right however. I'm not his lady friend." Then in a voice she knew only Buffy could hear, she added, "At least not yet."

Turning on her heal, she offered her hand to Dawn. "Sounds like I'll be seeing you around. Natasha."

"Dawn." She took the proffered hand with a grin.

Natasha waved to the group and, once again, walked out of the room.

"But seriously...where did you come from?" Tony shouted after her. When there was no answer, narrowed his eyes and said, "JARVIS, where did Nat pop up from?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, sir."

"Not at... What is wrong with my life today?" Tony stalked off.

"Tony," Bruce called, "where are you going?"

"To find a tablet and have it out with my AI."

"Sir..."

"You took her side over mine!"

"Really, Sir, you did program self-preservation into my software."

Tony paused mid-step. "Good point. I'm not happy! But you make a good point." Turning on his heel, he stalked back to his friend. "All right. Let's draw some blood."

"Huh?" came from three faces of confusion.

"Look, if I can't fight my AI's flawless, genius-programmed logic and or dodge sneak attacks by spysassins, I can at least draw a little blood in the name of science. Let's get this test over with, kiddies. I've already gone thirty minutes without coffee."

And he stalked off again.

"Do we...follow him?" Buffy asked.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked.

Bruce shrugged. "I've learned to go with it. On the plus side, you may have already won?"

Dawn frowned. "My head hurts."

Smiling kindly, Bruce looped an arm around her waist, and another around Buffy's shoulders as he led the way to Tony's lab. "You get used to it.

"And...and you girls know that no matter what the tests say, you're still my...my daughters."

"I was hoping you'd feel that way," Buffy said. "It'll help when the Slayer bits sink in past the shock."

"About that..."

Fin[ite]

* * *

 **Notes:** This is the last story written for the August fic-a-day. Many thanks to the mods and reviewers from twistedshorts for helping to make this more than a random one-shot! :D


	4. My Daughter's Eyes

**Title:** My Daughters' Eyes  
 **Series:** My Father's Child  
 **Author:** Vashti  
 **Fandom:** The Avengers (MCU), BtVS  
 **Character(s):** Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Pepper Potts  
 **Rating:** PG/T  
 **Summary:** It's official. Pepper is awesome.  
 **Length:** ~1270 words  
 **Disclaimer:** See part 1  
 **Notes:** See part 2.

§§§

"Ohhh, Dawn! They're so cute when they're confused," Buffy whispered to her sister. In theory she was trying not to disturb Bruce and Tony as they poured over the DNA analysis between herself, Bruce and Dawn (and now Tony, to confirm JARVIS hadn't had a digital breakdown). Both men were so confounded by the findings, however, that she and Dawn probably could have started a karaoke session and neither of them would have noticed.

Instead, Dawn was also theoretically respecting their science space by nodding emphatically but quietly. "Why did we leave the camera in the car?"

"I might be of service, Miss Buffy, Miss Dawn," JARVIS said, seemingly from right over their heads.

Buffy looked up, but Dawn kept making googly eyes. "What's that now, Jarv?"

"I can see all public rooms in the Tower, and I have the ability to capture still photos."

Now Dawn did look up, but it was Buffy that said, "Big Brother much?"

"Much of my surveillance is passive and benign. I only record under specific circumstances or when asked. Even that has its limits."

The sisters shared a look. "I don't know how I feel about that," Dawn said.

"Me neither."

"Be that as it may, I am watching and I do have the ability to capture...cuteness if you so desire."

Dawn pursed her lips. "And if we want you to stop recor- watching?"

"You will have to take it up with Sir, as neither of you is authorized to change those settings."

The sisters shared another look. Dawn shrugged first, and Buffy soon followed. What was one more-or-less benign, all-seeing AI, who had been programmed by a wealthy megalomaniac, who happened to be their father's good friend, to worry about? They'd fought master vampires, questionable councils, big bads, bad boyfriends and skanky hell gods and survived! More or less. "Okay," they said together.

"Very good. Shall I email them to you?"

Buffy rattled off her email address. "Thanks, Jarv."

"My pleasure, Miss."

"Hello? Tony...where are you hiding?"

Buffy and Dawn turned and peered around the corner to find the owner of the very feminine voice. A slender redhead dressed in a white suit tailored to cut both diamonds and male egos was sweeping her eyes across the extensive lab space. Buffy let out an envious moan. "If I could dress like that every day, I would totally be willing to be a grown up."

Dawn smacked her arm. "Do you know who that is?"

"Of course I know who that is! Virginia Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, feared and respected even when she was just that one's," she jerked her thumb in Tony's direction, "PA because, let's be honest, she's probably the only human being in Earth who can manage Mr. Billionaire Mad Scientist."

"I'm shocked that you know that."

Buffy stuck out her tongue.

Dawn crossed her arms, hips cocked. "Admit it, you only read the article Vanity Fair did on her because of the fashion spread."

Offended... Sort of offended, but not willing to lose ground, Buffy gaped open-mouthed at her sister. "The fashion spread was bonus. You think I don't keep up with strong, powerful women?"

"That's nice to know," Pepper said, surprising them. "Whoever you are."

Recovering quickly, Buffy offered her hand. "Buffy Summers, and my younger sister Dawn."

"Virginia Potts, as you already know, but you can call me Pepper. I assume you're both guests of Tony?"

"Actually, Bruce is my—our—biological father," Buffy said. "We saw the footage from the Battle of Manhattan and had to come."

Pepper's eyes were wide with surprise. "I didn't know Bruce had children."

Snorting, Dawn said, "Neither did he."

Buffy jabbed her, gently, in the side. "Bruce didn't know that he was a dad until I was like, four or five or something."

"You were four years old, and very opinionated," Bruce said as he approached the women. "Hello, Pepper."

Smiling warmly, she returned the greeting. "I didn't know you were a father."

A funny look, part smile, part grimace, part my-nose-itches, crossed Bruce's face. "Only in the most technical sense. I wasn't really a dad."

Dawn snorted. "Neither was Dad."

"Hey…Hank wasn't always, um…" Bruce looked at Buffy.

"King Jerk of Jerklandia?"

Bruce chuckled. "Yes. That. He was a good man who was very happy to be your father. When I met Joyce and Hank, I was very happy that you'd ended up with them."

Looking from Buffy to Dawn and then to Bruce, Pepper fixed her expression then, without looking at any of them, ventured to say, "So…you…put your second child up for adoption? With the same family it sounds like?" She dared to catch Bruce's eye. "Or there happened to be a similar situation and the girls found each other first?"

The three of them—Bruce, Buffy and Dawn—stared at her incomprehensibly for a moment. Eyes narrowed, Buffy said, "You mean did Bruce knock up some other girl and she also didn't spill the beans that she was keeping the kid without keeping the kid?"

"Yes?"

"No," the three said together.

"Oh."

Tony walked about and slung an arm around Pepper's waist. "Confusing as hell, isn't it? Hey." He leaned over for a kiss, and she met his lips. "Good day at the office?"

"Crushed a few egos. Stopped a coup in its tracks. Signed a couple of lucrative contracts that we've been negotiating. Nothing special."

Buffy clutched Bruce's arm and whined. Concerned, he studied her face. "What's wrong?"

"I want to be that awesome!"

Though obviously pleased, Pepper blushed a little. "I'm sure any child of Bruce's, raised by him or not, is already awesome."

Arms crossed over her chest as she smirked, Dawn said, "She manages to save the world every now and then." Now she looked between Tony and Bruce. "So? Verdict? Am I your bio-kid or what?"

"What if I'm your daddy?" Tony said. Pepper smacked the back of his head. "Ow! Do all the redheads have it in for me?! Are the are any other redheads on the team? JARVIS, make a note: we're putting a moratorium on hiring redheads. Send a memo to Fury."

"I'm not a redhead, and I hit you," Dawn reminded him.

Tony brushed off that very minor, inconsequential detail with a wave of his hand. "JARVIS, send the memo."

"Right away, Sir."

Pepper coughed. "JARVIS…do me a favor and hold onto that memo until after I'm done with Tony."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Tony pressed his hand to his arc reactor. "Is this what it's like to get no respect?"

Buffy and Dawn nodded. "Pretty much," Dawn said, speaking for both of them. "So! About my DNA, Billionnaire Playboy Distracto!"

"I guess—"

"Yes," Bruce said, breaking in before Tony could steal the moment. "Yes. We confirmed that you are, in fact, my biological daughter. I don't know how."

"Magic," Dawn and Buffy said together.

"Magic?" Pepper's brows were furrowed.

Ignoring them all, Bruce extended a hand to Dawn. "I've never believed in magic. But maybe I should."

Smiling hard enough to break something, she went to him and threw her arms around his neck. Bruce slowly wrapped his arms around her and sighed.

"JARVIS," Tony muttered, "take pictures."

Bruce extended his other hand to Buffy. She leaned into his side, allowing him to wrap an arm around her waist. "I'm not thrilled that it took an alien invasion to bring us together, and I wish your mom was alive to be part of this, but I'm glad you're both here."

"Me too," Buffy said.

"Me three," Dawn added. And then, "Am I seriously taller than you, too?"

Bruce hugged his girls tighter and laughed.

[in]Fin[ite]

* * *

 **Notes2:** That's it! I've gotten some great ideas from people who have read this series already. Some of them _might_ get written later, but I make no promises.


	5. My Father's Keeper

**Title:** My Father's Keeper  
 **Series:** My Father's Child  
 **Author:** Vashti  
 **Fandom:** Avengers, BtVS  
 **Character(s):** Bruce Banner, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers  
 **Rating:** FR-13/PG  
 **Summary:** The signing of the SGA never happened, but since they all remember it exactly this way it may as well have.  
 **Length:** ~506 words  
 **Disclaimer:** Only the words are mine, and that's probably up for philosophical debate. The song quoted below is my own original work.  
 **Notes2:** This is pre-everything. The only thing it spoils is itself.

* * *

Bruce laughed. "Buffy, sweetheart, this isn't really necessary, I promise."

His laughter quickly died in the face of her fierce resolve - and the fear that it overlaid. Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "We, like, just got you back. No way we're letting some skank-ho - don't repeat that in front of Mom and Dad, Dawnie-"

"'Kay!" the eight-year-old chirped.

"- take you away from us. None of that Baroness Schraeder, 'Let's send the little beasties to boarding school-'"

"Buffy, sweetheart, I couldn't send you and Dawn to boarding school even if I wanted to, and I would never want to. I'm not your legal parent."

"Bio-dad!" Dawn cheered, arms up in the air.

"And I'm not even that for Dawnie."

"Honorary Bio-dad!"

Buffy shot her little sister a look that said she was Not Amused by this extended nterruption. Accordingly, she went on as if neither Bruce nor Dawn had spoken: "-shenanigans no matter how awesome Mizz Baroness dresses for a ball."

"Lab rats don't get invited to many balls, sweetheart."

"And we are most definitely not letting some dog-faced, two-timer break your heart again. Like, no way."

Dawn's little face became serious. "Not ever."

"Oh girls…" Bruce felt his chest tighten. "What did I ever do to get such good girls?"

Buffy's face immediately twisted in disgust. "Like, ew? We just covered that in health, like, last week? Um…can we not again? Like, please?"

"What? What did you do in Health? I want to know!" Dawn protested. "Buffy, tell me!" When the twelve-year-old wouldn't budge, Dawn appealed to a higher authority. "Bruuuuuce! Tell Buffy to tell me what she learned in health and what that has to do with us being your awesome girls!"

Laughing, Bruce declared, "When you're older, Dawnie."

"'When you're older, Dawnie! When you're older, Dawnie!' At this rate I won't ever be older!"

Bruce and Buffy both laughed, although Bruce tried to smother his.

"Now wh-" Then she got it. Dawn scowled. "You know what I mean!"

Bruce pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her hair. "You're already growing up too fast for me. You and Buffy, both."

Buffy preened, until she remembered why they were there. "Don't think you're off the hook just because you hand out totally awesome and completely true compliments."

"Never," Bruce said. "You're far too smart to be swayed by what some guy says to you, right?"

"Right!" She flashed him her biggest smile.

Bruce turned looked down at his honorary daughter, still curled up in his arms. "Right, Dawnie?"

"Of course! Boys are dweebs anyway."

"And don't you forget it!" Bruce said before pressing another kiss into her hair.

"Okay," he said as he repositioned Dawn so that she was leaning against his side. When he reached out, Buffy all but flew to his other side and pressed in close as Bruce kissed her forehead.

"Now," he said, "let's work out the terms of the Sixth Grade Accords before your dad decides he wants his study back."

[in]Fin[ite]


	6. Fathers & Daughters

**Title** : Fathers & Daughters  
 **Series** : My Father's Child  
 **Author** : Vashti  
 **Character(s)** : Bruce Banner, Buffy Summers  
 **Rating** : PG  
 **Summary** : Just as Buffy's world is settling, Bruce's is falling apart  
 **Length** : ~990 words  
 **Notes** : takes place pre-MCU Hulk movie and post-S7 for Buffy but missing most of the comic book canon.  
 **Notes2** : written for the August 2017 TwistedShorts ficathon.

* * *

"H-hey. Hi. Um…this message is for Buffy Summers or her sister Dawn Summers. Please let them know that their, um, their, uh, Bruce called. Yeah, I guess I'm still their Bruce.

"Sorry I'm just going on and on and no one likes a long voicemail. Just let Buffy and Dawn-."

Buffy snatched up the phone. "Bruce! Bruce?"

"Buffy." He sounded relieved. "I'm so glad I got you."

"Bruce, what's wrong?" He was her biological father and, as far as he knew, in no way related to Dawn, but he'd always treated both girls as if they were his daughters, particularly after Hank took himself out of the picture.

"Why do you think something is wrong?"

"Bruce. You never want to talk to just me or just Dawn. You've been asking after both of us since before Mom and Dad brought Dawnie home from the hospital instead of the puppy I wanted. Something has got you wigged. Spill."

He took a deep, ragged breath.

Goosebumps erupted all over Buffy's skin as her face crumpled. The last time he'd made that sound, she'd just told him that her mother had died. "Bruce?"

"I'm so sorry, Buffy. I've let you girls down."

Trying halfheartedly to lighten the mood, she said, "You've decided to follow in Hank's footsteps and run away with the secretary?"

"Buffy…"

"Don't 'Buffy' me when you're the one who's being all cryptic scary guy! What's going on?"

"I don't know how to say it."

"Just spit it out!" she snapped. Her free hand immediately flew to her mouth. "Bruce! Bruce, I'm sorry. You're freaking me out, but that's so not a reason to yell at you."

On the other side of the line, she could hear him breathing heavily, but he didn't respond.

"Bruce, I-"

"Give me a moment. Sweetheart."

That tacked on endearment made her shiver. Listening to Bruce audibly trying to control his temper, Buffy tried to control her own panic. She knew that he had a temper. She'd seen him go off on her parents - Hank in particular - and he'd told her some stories about her bio-grandad (the tame ones probably), but he had never, never gotten angry at her or Dawn even when they probably deserved to have someone be angry at them.

Bruce took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his nose. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I didn't ever want you to see that part of me."

"I know. Bruce, I know. But I also know that I've been way, way brattier and you've kept your cool."

"There was that one time I popped you in the forehead."

"I'd popped you first, and you were, like, a million times nicer about it when you got me back."

Bruce chuckled on the other side of the line, sounding like himself for the first time since he'd started leaving that voicemail.

"Are you ready to tell me what's going on now?"

Bruce took another deep breath, and exhaled a long, "No. But I have to anyway. Remember when I told you and Dawn that I was working on a project for the government?"

"Yeah, with Betsy. Bruce, if you broke up with Betsy it is not that big. Yeah, Dawnie and I love her, but you're the one that has to love her, not us. The Eighth Grade Amendment to the SGA allows for dissolution of relationships without prior daughter approval."

Chuckling, Bruce said, "For which I have been very grateful. No, Buffy, this is more serious than my relationship with Betsy. Who is still amazing but…probably won't want to be with me anymore.

"Buffy, that project was trying to create super soldiers. And, like the egotistical idiot that I am, I…I tested it on myself."

"You what?!"

"I-"

"I heard you. By 'what' I mean, what does that mean? Are you okay? You're calling me, so you must be okay. Are you in the hospital?" Buffy's chest clenched within her. It felt like her mom all over again. It felt like battling cancer all over again. "Omigod, do I need to leave Cleveland? I'll call Dawn and we'll pack tonight and we-"

"Buffy! Buffy, Buffy, Buffy, my love. Please slow down, sweetheart. I'm…"

He took another one of those deep ragged breaths and Buffy felt the shudder go through her, too.

"I'm more okay than not, but the process…changed me. My temper is shorter than ever. Everything I learned about self-control is…is…it's gone."

"Thats fixa-"

"But the worst part is, is that when I lose my temper, I turn into a giant green monster that is the…the embodiment of all my anger and rage."

Buffy felt the Slayer within rear her head. Forcibly stuffing it down, she said, "There has to be a way."

"I hope so. I think…I think he really only reacts to threats. To me or to him."

"Him?"

"The jolly green giant."

Buffy laughed mirthlessly.

"I, uh, I hurt Betsy."

"Bruce!"

"But I don't think he did it on purpose. She was there and-"

"Like collateral damage?"

"Yeah," Bruce said quietly. "But I don't know for sure. So I'm following some leads down to South America to see if I can cure this…thing I've done to myself."

"Oh, Bruce."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"I am, too. I wish I could hug you right now."

"I don't deserve you."

Buffy's throat closed up. "Bruce. I, uh, know some people? Who know weird and interesting things. If they find something I'll let you know."

"That does explain why you're taking this so well. I'll call you when I get settled."

"Don't worry, I'll find you. No matter where you end up, I will find you, Bruce. Just like you found me. Okay?"

"Okay. I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, too."

"Tell Dawn?"

"That you love her? Always."

At least, Buffy thought, he was laughing when he hung up the phone.

Fin[ite]


End file.
